


Just What the Doctor Didn't Order

by chaostheoryy



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: AKA the one time Kirk becomes the doctor, Academy Era, Bones has the flu, Grumpy Bones, Kirk takes care of him, M/M, Prompt Fic, Sickfic, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7703131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaostheoryy/pseuds/chaostheoryy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard McCoy always took pride in his health. However, despite his well-balanced diet, excellent hygiene, and endless vaccinations, there's just one thing he found he couldn't avoid: the flu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just What the Doctor Didn't Order

**Author's Note:**

  * For [angeredthoughts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/angeredthoughts/gifts).



Kirk strut down the hallway with a spring in his step, whistling a joyful tune as he made his way toward his quarters. Ever since he'd arrived at Starfleet Academy, his outlook on life had taken a drastic turn for the better. He was excited about where he was going in life. He wasn't some floater back in Iowa, getting his ass handed to him in a rundown bar on a Friday night. He had a purpose. He was going to become a captain. 

When he reached his quarters, he pressed his hand to the reader until the door slid open, his smile never faltering. Once inside, he made his way through the common area to his bedroom where he dropped his belongings on the bed and toed out of his shoes.

"Hey, Bones!" He called out as he changed out of his uniform and into a tee and some sweatpants, "Where were you today, buddy? Didn't see you in Warp Theory! Everything alright?"

To his surprise, there was no answer from his roommate whatsoever. Kirk furrowed his brow in confusion. Strange. Bones always stayed in their quarters on Thursday nights to study for his weekly Quantum Chem assessment.

"Bones?"

Kirk crossed the common area toward Bones' bedroom, peeking in to see if his companion had fallen asleep on his Chem book again. However, just as he finished taking note of the vacant desk and messy bed, he heard a faint groan echo from the bathroom. Kirk stepped inside Bones' bedroom to peer around the corner into the bathroom area. The moment he spotted Bones slouched over on the tile floor, Kirk's eyes widened and his confusion gave way to genuine concern.

"My God...Bones! Are you alright?" He asked worriedly as he hustled over and knelt down next to his roommate.

As awful as it was for Kirk to think it, Bones looked like shit. His usually well-groomed hair was an absolute mess, strands of brown locks pointing in all directions. His skin was alarmingly pale, his brow beaded with sweat. Not to mention the look of exhaustion on his face that made it seem as though he were about to pass out on the bathroom floor.

Bones groaned, trying to sit up straight only to have his wobbly arms give out on him and fall back against the shower. "Just peachy," he mumbled weakly before erupting into a coughing fit.

Kirk looked him over, taking note of his sweat stained shirt and his worn out boxers. It was obvious that Bones had not only slept in these clothes, but had been in them all day. That was definitely a sign that something was wrong.

"Let's get you back into bed," Kirk said as he hooked his arms under Bones' biceps. With a grunt, he pulled Bones to his feet, immediately navigating the older man's arm over his shoulder and wrapping his own around Bones' waist. Serving as Bones' crutch, he helped his companion over to his bed and carefully laid his head down on the pillow.

"What the hell happened to you?" Kirk murmured as he looked at Bones' worn out face, "You were perfectly fine last night!"

Bones brought his right arm up and coughed violently for a moment before moaning in discomfort and letting his head fall deeper into his pillow. "That damn Ankari in Xenobiology must have sneezed on my uniform. God knows what kind of flesh-eating virus he gave to me."

Kirk frowned and pressed the back of his hand to Bones' forehead. No doubt Bones had a fever. "Hate to burst your bubble, but it looks to me that your flesh-eating virus is what we normal humans call the flu."

"I don't have the flu," Bones mumbled stubbornly, his droopy eyelids only sinking lower when he furrowed his brow.

Kirk rolled his eyes. "Deny it all you want, Bones. You're sick," he said sternly, "I'm no doctor, but I've dealt with the flu more times than I can count back on the farm, so trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"Trust _your_ medical opinion? Over my dead body."

Kirk sighed and made his way over to the dresser in the corner of the room and fetched one of Bones' t-shirts. "I don't know how it's possible, but your're even more stubborn when you're sick," he mused as he made his way back over to the bed. "Now, sit up so I can get you in a clean shirt."

Kirk grabbed Bones' arm and, despite his companion's groans of protest, pulled until he was sitting upright. Draping the new shirt over his shoulder, Kirk used both hands to gently tug the old one over Bones' head. Once the old one was removed and tossed on the floor, Kirk carefully slipped Bones' head through the collar of the new shirt and navigated his arms into the sleeves. Ignoring the temptation to drag his palms over Bones' surprisingly toned torso, he tugged the shirt down until he was comfortably engulfed in the cotton.

"There," Kirk said proudly as he looked Bones over like a newly finished painting before gently laying him back down.

"On the bright side," Bones murmured as he closed his eyes and tried to relax, "If I keel over now, I'll at least be kicking the bucket on solid ground rather than getting myself sucked out of a hole in space."

Kirk stared at Bones with a mixture of amusement and irritation. "Would you stop it? You're not dying, alright? It's the flu not the plague!" He sighed and grabbed the comforter crumpled up at the end of the bed, draping it over Bones' body. "Just lay here and stay quiet for a minute while I get you some water and medication."

Bones frowned and gave him a stern look despite his exhaustion. "Do you even know what kind of medication to give me?"

"The long blue pills right?"

"No! The small red ones, you idiot!"

"That's what I said," Kirk called back as he exited Bones' bedroom, smirking to himself when he heard Bones mutter something out of frustration.

Kirk made his way into the kitchen area to fetch a glass of water before prying open the makeshift medicine cabinet Bones had set up in the hallway. It took him a moment to scan the various bottles for the right medication but once he had it in his hand, he couldn't help but smile proudly.

"Here you go!" He announced as he popped back into Bones' room to give him his medicine.

Bones tossed the pills into his mouth with a disgusted look on his face before washing them down with a long drink of water. Kirk watched incredulously as his companion proceeded to down the entire glass, swallowing the liquid as if it were the first time he'd had a drink in days.

"When was the last time you ate?" Kirk inquired as he took Bones' empty glass.

"'Round five last night," Bones replied matter-of-factly.

Kirk's jaw dropped. "Last _night_? Bones, that was nearly 24 hours ago!"

"So what?"

"So, you need to eat!" Kirk shook his head in disbelief. Bones was in worse shape than he'd thought. He wasn't drinking water, he wasn't eating any kind of food or taking medication. Who knew that the universe's most anal doctor would be the worst patient?

"Protest all you want," Kirk added as he made his way toward the door, "But I'm making you some soup."

"Dammit, Jim, you're not my mother!"

Kirk ignored Bones' shout and disappeared into the kitchen. Using some broth, a few different spices, and the memory of one of his mother's recipes, he prepared a bowl of chicken soup. He then grabbed a pack of saltine crackers and another glass of water, carrying them back to Bones' room no more than twenty minutes after he'd left.

Bones groaned as Kirk entered, slowly opening his eyes to look at him with an irritated expression. "I'm not hungry," he mumbled when Kirk tried to hand him the bowl.

"Come on!" Kirk said, frustrated at the idea of having his labor wasted, "Would you at least try it?"

Bones glared at him.

Kirk buried his frustration and put on an innocent expression, doing his best impression of a begging puppy. "Please, Bones?"

Bones stared at him for a moment, clearly fighting the temptation to say yes. But, when Kirk's lips pulled into a sad frown, he caved.

"For God's sake... Fine! I'll try it!" Bones shook his head and rolled his eyes in irritation. "I must have pissed the Lord off real bad to get stuck with you as my roommate."

Kirk flashed him his signature smirk before gathering a spoonful of the soup and holding it out towards his partner. Bones was immediately taken back, giving Kirk a dumbfounded look.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" Kirk asked, genuinely confused.

"I don't need you to spoon feed me! I'm sick not paralyzed!"

Kirk dropped the spoon back in the bowl, frowning slightly. "Sorry, I just figured your arms were still all shaky 'cause of the fever."

Bones sat upright with a groan, leaning against the headboard and reaching out to take the bowl from Kirk's hands. Bones' body was clearly weaker than he had realized, the bowl immediately wobbling once it was in his possession. With a shaky hand and a furrowed brow, he grabbed the spoon and made an attempt to bring it to his mouth only to have Kirk reach over and take both the bowl and spoon from him.

"Just let me do it before you spill it all over yourself," Kirk said, agonized by the sight of Bones struggling to do such a simple task.

Bones narrowed his eyes as Kirk held the spoon toward him again. "Tell anyone about this and I will personally shoot you out into space."

Kirk sighed. "I won't mention it to anybody. Now would you just shut up and eat the damn soup?"

Bones gazed at him suspiciously for a moment before opening his mouth and taking the spoon in without anymore protest. To Kirk's pleasure, Bones didn't spit the soup back out into his face. In fact, he didn't even make his usual disgusted expression.

"What do you think?" Kirk asked anxiously, a hopeful smile on his face.

Bones considered the question for a moment before responding. "It isn't terrible, I'll give you that."

Kirk grinned with pride. That was as good a compliment as you could possibly get when it came to Leonard McCoy. "I knew you'd like it."

By the time Bones had finished the soup and eaten a few of the saltines, Kirk found he was starving. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and feeding Bones only made him crave food for himself. He took the empty bowl and Bones' water glass back to the kitchen to wash them, then proceeded to make himself a sandwich. It wasn't anything extremely appetizing, but it was enough to tide him over for a few hours.

It only took him a half hour or so to clean the dishes and eat his sandwich but by the time he made his way back to Bones' room, he found his companion had already fallen asleep. Standing at the foot of Bones' bed, Kirk couldn't help but smile. Despite his body working hard to fight the illness, Bones looked at peace. The seemingly permanent crease in his forehead that formed when he furrowed his brow had disappeared and his signature grimace had been wiped from his lips.

Kirk sighed softly and circled around to Bones' bedside. Realizing Bones would never know what he'd done, he leaned down a pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. It wasn't a joke either. He didn't do it out of spite or a desire to get on Bones' nerve. It was an expression of genuine affection he wasn't quite sure Bones would ever appreciate. Little did he know, however, that once he'd shut off the lights and whispered "good night" as he left to work on his assignments, Bones' eyes opened and a small smile tugged at his lips as he reached up to gently touch his forehead.

"Good night, Jim..."


End file.
